A Need to be Strong
by Fayth in the Music
Summary: Tragedy strikes the Fowl family, and Artemis only asks one thing from Holly. Unfortunately, there are just some things even magic can't do.


Artemis Fowl stared at his computer screen, disgusted with himself. He couldn't believe he was looking at celebrity gossip of all things. It was something he promised himself he would never look at.

Then again, these were extraordinary circumstances. He had been at the hospital for the past four hours. He was just sitting in the waiting room, hoping for a doctor to come in and tell him that everything would be just fine. That it was all just a giant understanding, and that they should go out for cake to celebrate their good fortune.

That wasn't going to happen.

He glanced around the hospital waiting room. It was a private waiting room, and he was the only one in it. Occasionally, a nurse would pop in to check up on him, and he would temporarily think his little fantasy would come true. However, it was never the case, and Artemis would dismiss the nurse.

He was just glad Butler wasn't there with him. Artemis had ordered him to go wait with Miles. The younger Fowl boy needed the man-servant more than he did. Butler understood, and followed his orders.

Artemis's eyes glanced around the room, as he was hoping to see the familiar shimmer of a fairy. No such luck, he sighed, and put his attention back to the celebrity gossip headline.

_"Jennifer Lopez and Husband Marc Anthony Divorce!"_

Artemis didn't even know who those people were, for Gods sake. He knew Mark Anthony was a historical Roman figure, made famous in the William Shakespheare plays Julius Caesar, and Anthony & Cleopatra, but his name was spelled with a "k" instead of a "c". Besides, he had been dead for many years now. There was no way he could be married to anybody in this day and age.

"Artemis?" a female voice said. A small grin crossed Artemis's face. Holly.

He looked up, and the little elf smiling at him, a slightly concerned look in her eye. She knew that if Artemis had asked her to come up to a hospital, something had happened.

"It's good to see you," he greeted, while closing the celebrity-gossip website before she could see it. No that it mattered. Fowly would give him a hard time about it within the week, no-doubt. Quite frankly, he was surprised he wasn't getting an e-mail harassing him about it.

"You too," she replied. She didn't know how to ask him what was wrong. She didn't want to be rude. He would tell her eventually. Instead, she asked "Where's Butler?"

"Playing with Miles," Artemis replied, "Or rather, being Miles' guinea pig, as the case probably is."

"I see," Holly said. She noticed Artemis only said "Miles", as opposed to "Miles and Beckett" or "the twins." Where was Beckett? Was that why she was here? Had something horrible happened to the toddler? She wished Artemis would just tell her why he brought her up.

"Beckett is the strongest of the twins," Artemis suddenly said, "He's braver then I am, and he's only two. Last week, he ate a spider."

Holly noticed how Artemis's eyes were slightly watery, and she realized he was close to crying. What the hell happened?

"We noticed something was weird about a week ago," he continued, "He had all of these bruises on his body. Sure, he's a little adventures, but there were a little too many for mother's comfort. I thought it was nothing, at first." He took in a deep breath, as if to regain his composer, "But he's also been very tired lately, and he hasn't been eating anything. Yet, he got a little chubby in the area around his stomach. We finally took him to the hospital when he complained he was hurting in his joints," Artemis smiled a bit, "Or, as he put it, 'My bendy places hurt'."

Artemis's eyes were starting to get red.

"Artemis, what's-"

"Beckett has leukemia."

Holly felt her stomach churn at the news. Leukemia was a cancer. One of those horrible human diseases. She knew what it was. All fairies in the LEP did. Although it wasn't something faeries usually came down with, occasionally, some poor fairy would get it. Since it was so rare in the fairy world, no one knew just how to treat it, which pretty meant it was a death sentence.

Any fairy exposed to certain part of the surface had a risk. Humans were so toxic now, and some fairies could be so stupid. She didn't even want to think about the Chernobyl incident.

She remembered one of her first jobs on the surface, was a pixie smuggling ring. A group of pixies were smuggling cancer-ridden fairies to the surface, so they could have the human treatment for the decease. They had used the Mesmer on an entire hospital, making them believe fairies were human. She could still see the fairies that were in Chemo. They were bald and skinny, and paler and any creature could be. These were fairies who were willing to do anything to live, something they wouldn't get to do once she ground them back underground. It haunted her to this day.

"I'm so sorry, Artemis," she said. She placed her hand on his shoulder, "Unfortunately," she paused. How could she tell him this, "Cancer is immune to magic."

"I know," he choked. He was losing the internal battle he was having with his tears. "That's not why I asked you up here."

A tear streamed down his face, and he looked at her, desperation present in his eyes.

"Please Holly," he asked, another tear rolling down his cheek, "Don't let me cry. I have to be strong. Don't let me cry."

Holly embraced her friend in a comforting hug. He had brought her there to be someone he could trust, and that's exactly what she did.

"I'm sorry, Artemis."

Artemis let out a sob, and began to cry on her arms. In that moment, he was not the boy genius or heir to the Fowl Empire.

He was a worried brother, who needed a friend.

* * *

><p><strong>This month, my little two-year-old cousin was diagnosed with Leukemia. Like Beckett, she is also a twin, so writing out out this story was very soothing for me. Luckily for both her and Beckett, Leukemia has a 90% cure rate with children under five. None the less, it is a horrible disease that no child should ever have to go through.<strong>

**Please, keep cancer in your thoughts.**

**Thank you for your time.**


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